"He who trusts in his own heart is a fool." (Proverbs 28:26) This episode spells out the distinguishing traits of the kesil fool, particularly where he differs from the eviyl fool Whereas the eviyl fool trusts that his WAY is right (Proverbs 12:15), the kesil fool "trusts in his own heart." (Proverbs 28:26) And this confidence breaches the dam holding back wickedness. "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick." (Jeremiah 17:9) The kesil fool pursues his own lusts without restraint, "for his mind is in the house of pleasure." (Ecclesiastes 7:4) The "lusts of deceit" consume him as the objectives of life, and God "turns him over" to "degrading passions" and a "depraved mind." (Romans 1:26, 28) The episode marks a transition in the correctability of fools. The previous fools, though ignorant and close-minded, are reachable, for they have not committed themselves to wickedness. They are potentially receptive to the wisdom of correction. Kesil fools however are committed to wickedness, and God Himself at one point no longer pursues them. This of course anticipates the limited response of believers to kesil fools.
The Depraved Mind, a Servant of Lusts
The fool's hostility to the knowledge of God leads to a mind that no longer serves its original purpose, that of discovering the works of God and co-laboring with Him, giving Him glory. The depraved mind of a fool instead serves a different purpose, the advancement of an idol god largely defined by unrestrained lusts. This episode unpacks the usurpation of the mind in service of idolatry. Paul notes that unbelieving Gentiles "walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart." (Ephesians 4:18) Working backwards through the quote, Gentile hostility to the knowledge of God, based on "hardness of heart" makes them ignorant and disqualifies them as participants in the life of God. Without the knowledge of God (deliberately suppressed), the mind can't possibly serve its original purpose. The understanding is darkened, the mind itself a futile faculty, cut off from the life of God. The consequent "depraved mind" exists to service the idol identity grounded in the big three ("the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life"--1 John 2:16) "Sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness" (Ephesians 4:19) is relatively easy, for the conscience, acting on the inner law of God, has been largely deactivated. The Holy Spirit has given the fool over to a depraved mind that is "callous" and resistant to correction. The litany of character defects in Romans 1:29-31 is predictable: "full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful."
Pardoned and Gainfully Employed: Your New Life in Christ
This episode spells out the appropriate reaction of Christians who realize the enormity of mercy extended to them in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. All Christians are acquitted from a gigantic debt that they could not pay. "The wages of sin is death," and Christ paid those wages. As we progressively understand the severity of the debt and the eternal death in hell that we all justly deserve, we gain proper perspective on how to live our remaining days. Paul says in Romans 6:13 that "we are alive from the dead." Gratitude over being the recipients of God's indescribable gift motivates us to re-present our members as instruments of righteousness in honor of the God who graciously pardoned us and gave us life. So we gladly unite ourselves with Christ in the likeness of His death, putting to death the deeds of the flesh (Rom. 8:13), so that we may also walk in the newness of His life, His resurrected life. We live for the will and pleasure of God as grateful servants in the army of the Lord.
The Old Self: Dead Man Walking
This episode applies the death, burial and resurrection of Christ to sanctification, which rests on the historical fact that "the old self was crucified with Christ." (Romans 6:6) The result, the verse concludes, is "that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin." All sanctification rests on this fact, so believers do well to KNOW this and subsequently CONSIDER themselves "dead to sin, but alive to Christ. (Romans 6:11). "Knowing" which goes on to "Considering" is the process of applying the death, burial, and resurrection to our new life in Christ. The episode emphasizes that this new life in Christ is not automatic. Christians must do the work of knowing and considering to benefit from the historical fact that our old self was crucified with Christ. The result, that "the body of sin MIGHT be done away with," largely depends on Christian identification and application of this fact. This "already/not yet" dynamic largely explains why many believers are still, to some extent, slaves to sin.
Identify with the Costs as Well as the Benefits
This episode applies the death, burial and resurrection of Christ to sanctification, specifically how we gain the victory over sin. Romans 6:7 states that our old self was crucified with Christ, in order that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. Victory over sin begins with identification with the historical fact that our old self was crucified with Christ, and the result is that we are no longer slaves to sin. The key variable linking this historical fact with liberation from sin is the degree we identify with Christ's death, burial and resurrection. The goal, that "the body of sin might be done away with," largely depends on our active application of the death of Christ to our own sin. And the application of the resurrection, as we learn in later episodes, is that we rise to the newness of life. So before we naturally identify with the resurrection of Christ, we should also readily identify with Christ's death, which energizes us to mortify the flesh.
Called to Repent and Obey
The beginning of this episode presents a positive description of repentance from God's perspective: God is not a cosmic killjoy imposing commandments on us to keep us from enjoying ourselves. His commandments are the guardrails that ensure an ultimately fulfilling life. Repentance and subsequent obedience are therefore part of the purpose of the Christian life, according to 1 Peter 1:2, where the Spirit separates us for obedience and the forgiveness of sins. Holistic salvation incorporates repentance as an ongoing practice with the aim of obeying Christ more. And all the mistakes along the way are covered by the blood of Christ.